In the construction of prior art nail polish formulations it has been considered virtually indispensible to include a toluenesulfonamide/formaldehyde resin in the blend. Toluenesulfonamide/formaldehyde resin is important to provide the requisite adhesion of the nail polish blend to a subject finger nail. This resin has been shown to possess the necessary characteristics of gloss, hardness and resistance to household detergent solutions which are important to nail polishes. An important drawback to the use of this resin is the recent finding that formaldehyde is a carcinogen. However, until now, no satisfactory substitute for toluenesulfonamide/formaldehyde has been developed for nail polish formulations which possesses the necessary adhesion, gloss, hardness, detergent resistance and color stability properties.